1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a load containment arrangement for a car that includes a rear seat and a baggage space located behind the rear seat, in which a load containment barrier is positioned behind the backrest of the rear seat and extends up from the floor of the baggage space, and in which the backrest of the rear seat can be folded or dropped down so as to forwardly extend the baggage space.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of so-called estate cars or semi-estate cars, the backrest of the rear seat can be dropped forwards so that the rear side of the backrest will lie horizontally and therewith form a forward extension of the floor surface of the standard baggage space behind the rear seat. Normally, the seat cushion of the rear seat is first swung up about an axle positioned beneath the seat cushion and in the proximity of its front edge, whereafter the backrest of the rear seat is dropped to the position previously occupied by the seat cushion.
With the intention of improving load containment at the front edge of the forwardly extended baggage space, it is known to mount a load containment barrier on the upper edge of the backrest of the rear seating, so as to enable the barrier to be positioned essentially vertically when the rear seat has been dropped down, and then connect the upper edge of the barrier to the safety belts of the rear seating. Alternatively, the safety belts of the rear seating can be coupled to the upper edge of the forwardly dropped rear seat cushion.
One problem with the known abutment system is that it only enables the car user to establish reinforced load containment at the front edge of the baggage space concerned, said construction thus permitting the car user to refrain from utilising this facility or forgetting to utilise the same.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a protective arrangement that includes a load containment barrier that is moved forcibly from a correct first position behind the rear seat backrest, in which the backrest when upstanding forms a forward limitation of the xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d baggage space in the car, to a correct second position in front of the forwardly increased baggage-space that has been created by folding down the backrest of the rear seat, and back again.
According to the invention, the barrier is pivotally connected to the upper edge of the backrest of the rear seat and also approximately midway of its height to one end of a link arm whose other end is pivotally connected to the car chassis between the backrest of the front seat and the rear seat so as to form a mechanism that includes three links and four pivots with which the barrier is forcibly moved to a respective correct position in both respective end positions of the backrest of the rear seat, i.e. both when the backrest is upright and forwardly horizontal.
In preferred embodiments, the safety belts of the rear seating are connected to the upper edge regions of the load containment barrier when the barrier is in its forward end position. When the backrest of the rear seat is divided into two parts that can be dropped and raised independently of each other, the load containment barrier may be correspondingly divided, wherewith a particular advantage lies in the fact that the boundary line between the partition line of the barrier and the backrest is laterally offset in relation to the gap between the front seats such as to screen-off the gap when the broader part of the backrest of the rear seat is dropped down to extend the baggage space area. The arrangement may, of course, include catches for latching both parts of the barrier. A link mechanism is suitably provided at each side edge of the load containment barrier/rear seat backrest.
Further, similar link mechanisms may be connected to the side edges of the barrier/backrest that lie mutually adjacent when the backrest is divided.